The Use Of Indigenous Techniques Of Communication In Language Learning

The use of indigenous techniques of communication in language learning

The Use of Indigenous Techniques of Communication for Language Learning: The Case of Cameroon

This study aimed at determining whether the use of indigenous techniques of communication can have a positive impact on the motivation of the learner of English as a foreign language in Cameroon. By indigenous techniques of communication we mean techniques like role-play, songs, the telling of folktales, riddles and proverbs. This work is intended as a contribution to the search for improvement of student motivation and enthusiasm, whereby they can be more responsive as they participate spontaneously in learning English as a foreign language. Some writers agree that it is beneficial to learn a foreign language using the material that the learners are familiar with (Lado 1964, Gee 1987, Post and Rathet 1996). The telling of folktales, role-play, songs, and the use of riddles and proverbs are found in all societies and every indigenous society uses them in teaching in one way or the other. Most foreign language learners are familiar with them. Their abundance in the Cameroonian society presents an excellent opportunity for foreign language teaching/learning. My interest in this research has been substantially influenced by my experience of working for almost a decade with learners of English as a foreign language in Francophone secondary/high schools in Cameroon. This work led me to the realization that students respond to English language teaching with very little motivation and enthusiasm. They make little or no progress in learning the language, much less in communicating in it. One of the major questions I have often asked myself is why Francophone students find English language learning boring and what could be done to solve the problem of teaching English to these students. I have tried on a number of occasions to tell folktales or teach a song in class when I found the students were bored with the lessons and discovered that the students immediately became alert. Their alertness was probably not for the direct purpose of making any linguistic gain but for the s.

Decolonising Digital Media and Indigenisation of Participatory Epistemologies

The book provides valuable insights on decolonising the digital media landscape and the indigenisation of participatory epistemologies to continue the legacies of indigenous languages in the global South. It is one of its kind as it climaxes that the construction phase of self-determining and redefining among the global South societies is an essential step towards decolonising the digital landscape and ensuring that indigenous voices and worldviews are equally infused, represented, and privileged in the process of higher-level communication, exchanging epistemic philosophies, and knowledge expressions. The book employs an interdisciplinary approach to engage in the use of digital media as a sphere for resistance and knowledge transformation against the persistent colonialism of power through dominant non-indigenous languages and scientific epistemic systems. It further advocates that decolonising digital media spaces through appreciating participatory epistemologies and their languages can help promote the inclusion and empowerment of indigenous communities. It indicates that the decolonial process can also help to redress the historical and ongoing injustices that have disadvantaged many indigenous communities in the global South and contributed to their marginalisation. This book will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students, scholars, and academics in communication, media studies, languages, linguistics, cultural studies, and indigenous knowledge systems in higher education institutions. It will be a valuable resource for those interested in epistemologies of the South, decoloniality, postcoloniality, indigenisation, participatory knowledge, indigenous language legacies, indigenous artificial intelligence, and digital media in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.